As a traditional Chinese medicine, peppercorns have the effects of warming the qi, chasing cold, relieving pain, and killing insects. It is often used as a medicine for the treatment of stomach cold abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and other diseases.
At the same time, with its spicy and slightly astringent taste, peppercorns are used as spicy and delicious hot pot bases, and are now an indispensable seasoning for every household to cook hot pot.
Yu Qian, a famous literary scholar of the Ming Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Wu Nong Qu Yi Lang Remembers Bones Like Firewood": "At first eating yellow and suffering in the heart, it is difficult to open the mouth of the peppercorns." "This is to describe the spicy stimulation of peppercorns.
A brave general
People often say that the phrase after the break is "sprinkle salt on the wound - the pain is added to the pain", but what is the situation of sprinkling pepper on the wound?
In the western suburbs of Anyang City, Henan Province, the excavated tombs of the Yin Shang Period, such things as peppercorns were found on the bones of the owner of the tomb.
Not only that, but in the soil around its bones. Archaeologists have also found a large number of peppercorn seeds that have been carbonized.
At the same time, after careful investigation and research by archaeologists, through the excavation of 6 pieces of bronze pylondon cast with the word "Sub-Long", the identity of the owner of the tomb was determined to be a great general of the "Chang" clan in the Yin Shang period.
According to the research of archaeologists. In the Yin Shang period, "Ya" represented the military attaché who led the army to fight, and "Chang" may represent the family name of the owner of the tomb.
On the bones of the tomb owner, Wang Minghui, an expert in physical anthropology analysis, made a major discovery.
Wang Minghui judged that the age of the owner of the tomb was about 35 years old, and he also guessed that the owner of the tomb had suffered serious trauma before his death based on the traces on the bones.
Specific speculation, the owner of the tomb had a total of 7 wounds on his body before his death, of which 6 were concentrated on the left side of the body, and most of them were cut by sharp weapons such as knives and axes.
As far as the wounds on the bones of this great general are concerned, we roughly know that he was mostly a brave general during his lifetime. First the right part was traumatized, and then the left part was besieged by many people, causing fatal wounds to it and dying.
After thousands of years of baptism, the tomb of this brave general, from the gloomy ground to today's re-appearance, his heroic deeds are also known.
Probably also because of the bravery of this general, the Shang king at that time held a very grand funeral for him.
His tomb is buried near the palace of Yin Ruins, and his burial area, the number of martyrs, and the number of bronzes and jades buried with him are second only to the famous female generals and women.
The mystery of peppercorn seeds
What is even more shocking is not only the general's funeral offerings and the scale of the tomb, but also his bones.
Some of his muscles are preserved on his bones, which can be described as a miracle of historical archaeology.
The body retained on the bones contains peppercorn seeds, is it this remnant of peppercorns that allows the general's bones to retain some of the body?
In fact, as early as the pre-Qin period, the ancient people of the mainland were using peppercorns. The earliest written record of the use of peppercorns is in the Book of Poetry, which has a long history.
The Book of Poetry, Chen Feng, and the Fang of the East Gate describes it this way: "See er as a thorn, and I hold the pepper." "Its meaning is to give the beloved girl a love pepper, which shows that the peppercorns at that time still have the role of bonding between men and women."
At that time, peppercorns not only had a definite effect.
Also in the Book of Poetry, the Book of Poetry, Zhou Song Zaiqian: "There is Pepper Qixin, Hu Kao Zhining." "The peppercorns are even made into wine and given to the elderly to wish them a long life."
Not only that, according to current medical research, peppercorns actually have the effect of stopping bleeding and generating muscle. Perhaps, the ancients thousands of years ago have long understood this truth.
Imagine that on the battlefield of Yin Shang thousands of years ago, this general named "Ya Chang" was seriously wounded by heroically killing the enemy, and his soldiers carefully grinded and smeared peppercorns to heal the general's bleeding wounds.
Even if the last battle-hardened general was seriously wounded and heroically sacrificed, the peppercorns in the wound still had a protective effect on some of his body.
So much so that thousands of years later, the general's bones still contain parts of the body.
However, what is the explanation for the large number of peppercorn seeds in the soil around the bones of the tomb owner?
It turns out that from the Shang Dynasty to the Two Han Dynasties, our ancestors had the tradition of burying peppercorns.
Experts found that as many as 20 tombs from the Shang Dynasty to the Two Han Dynasties were buried with peppercorns. Therefore, experts judged that it is precisely because of the custom of burying peppercorns that so many peppercorn seeds have been excavated from the "Yachang" tomb.
The "Yachang" tomb is also special, because the "Yachang" used peppercorns to treat wounds before he died, so even the bones of "Yachang" also have peppercorn seeds.
The family of "sub-chiefs"
When archaeologists explore in many ways, while carefully searching for the records of the "Chang" family in the oracle bones, in order to obtain more detailed information about the "YaChang" general.
Eventually, archaeologists determined the information of the "Chang" family in the Yin Shang period.
The "Chang" family was an extremely important vassal state of the Shang Dynasty during the Shang Dynasty. The reason why it is extremely important is because according to the oracle bones, the "Chang" family has a record of providing turtle shell divination for the Shang Dynasty royal family.
Because the Shang Dynasty superstitiously believed in the Mandate of Heaven, the Shang Dynasty royal family in the pre-Qin period could be described as a well-known superstitious divination, almost reaching the level of nothing to be uncertain.
As a family specializing in the royal family of the Shang Dynasty, the "Chang" family can be seen to be of great importance.
In this way, the "Yachang" from the "Chang" family should be an extremely important general of the Shang King at that time, and its status can be imagined how important it is.
Predatory General "Sub-Chief"
Imagine that in that era of superstitious destiny, the Shang King sent a highly trusted "Yachang" general to lead the army to fight and quell the war.
The battlefield was full of flames, and the sword mercilessly slashed at the flesh and blood body, cutting through the deep blood marks of the Dao. Everything, after the end of the war, has long been human...
The triumphant returning soldiers were mixed with sorrow and joy, and with a deep emotion, they took the body of the general to meet the King of Shang.
At that time, the Shang king may have seen the scarred body of the "Yachang" general.
Knowing that even if he was a general in a high position, he was still so a pioneer on the battlefield, fighting bravely and invinciblely, and he did not hesitate to fight, so he specially ordered the burial of this iron-blooded general.
However, even if the "Yachang" fought so desperately on the front line and gave his life to the Shang King he believed in, the Shang Dynasty could not escape the fate of extinction in the end.
As Pu Songling said in "Liaozhai Zhiyi": "The still water flows deeply, the vicissitudes are sung; the three lives are yin and sunny, and the joys and sorrows are clutched." ”
The Shang Dynasty, which was superstitious about the Mandate of Heaven, still did not receive the favor of the Mandate of Heaven after all. When King Wu of Zhou raised an army against the Shang King, the Shang Dynasty, which was powerless to return to heaven, was eventually drowned in the wheel of history rolling forward.
But when archaeologists opened the thick soil buried layer by layer to open the tomb of the "Sub-Chief", the deeds of the iron-blooded general who fought in blood and blood let people know today.